The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1946, Síða 10

8
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Winter 194$
Weaving on these looms was slow and
tedious and entailed endless walking,
the weaver having to make two trips
around the loom for each insertion of
weft. It is reckoned that a good weaver
walked a l>ingmannalei6 (which is about
23 English miles), in a day’s weaving.
When we consider that vadmal was
recognized legal tender and was for
centuries one of the countries chief ex-
ports, we begin to realize what a pro-
digious amount of work must have been
possessed some excellent silversmiths
and other metal workers as well as
skilled carvers. Designs are very similar
to those of other Scandinavian coun-
tries of the same period. They are ex-
ceedingly elaborate and are characteriz-
ed by intricate interlacing of bands as
well as serpents, dragons and animals.
Much of the costume jewellry is o!
bronze and copper, some of which ap-
pears to have been gilded and embellish-
ed with silver, but the precious metals
Patterns from the New Book of Embroidery by Arndis Bjornsdottir and
RagnheiSur O. B.iornsson. Only Icelandic fabric and Icelandic wool is
used. Colors are mostly vegetable dyes.
done by the weavers of Iceland in those
early days. For it must not be forgotten
that with the exception of the finery
which was imported by the higher
classes, every inch of fabric for clothing,
napery and other home uses, had to be
woven on these looms, in addition to the
vadmal which was woven for trade and
export.
Although museums lack examples of
ancient textile art, they have some fine
examples of metal work and carvings
from the earliest period. References in
ancient writings indicate that Iceland
have not withstood the ravages of time
as have the baser metals. Enough re-
mains however, to indicate their original
appearance. The brooches or clasps are
very large. Some from the 9th and 10th
centuries are as much as four inches in
diameter.
The next period in the history of Ice-
land is dark and dreary. From the early
13th to the late 18th century, the people
were sorely tried. Internal conflict,
foreign domination and trade monopolies
resulted in steadily growing poverty